State Employees are Winning Wellness

The Wellness Team at the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT) is working hard to make sure the State House stays healthy. On June 8, a group of more than 30 state employees from every corner of the State House grounds gathered eagerly together for the launch of a new wellness challenge—Winning Wellness.

What is Winning Wellness? In a way, it’s an office-driven Biggest Loser competition, but it’s also much more. This challenge wasn’t just about achieving that ideal weight—it was about making smart, educated lifestyle changes to improve total health. Realizing what motivates people, there was a cash reward for the person with the highest weight-loss percentage (more than $300 in total prize money), but we wanted to ensure participants felt like they had already won and left each weekly meeting feeling inspired. Each week, participants received professional guidance from some of the best health educators in the state. Some of the topics covered included:

•The Benefits of Sleep

•Real Food v. Processed Food

•Stress

•Wearable Fitness Technology

•Certified SC Produce/Food

During this eight-week challenge, the goal for participants was to maintain a constant state of mindfulness on health, and this couldn’t be achieved with just one meeting per week. Participants were encouraged to take part in regularly scheduled walks around the grounds, partake in a daily water challenge, share recipes, and visit an onsite farmers market.

On August 3, the Winning Wellness challenge came to a close, and the dedication of the participants truly showed. A cash prize was awarded to the top three participants with the highest percentage of weight loss. Robb McBurney from the SC Attorney General’s Office took home third place with 4.5% weight loss. Victoria Lewis from the SC Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism earned second place with 5.25% weight loss. With an impressive 10.1% weight loss, Ken Davidson from the SC Attorney General’s Office won the Winning Wellness Challenge.

The SCPRT Wellness Team is proud of all of our Winning Wellness Challenge participants, and we can’t wait to start the challenge again in 2017!